Weather information good to have

Thank the powers that control cable TV for the weather channel. No, I am serious. Because of those powers, whoever they may be, we know how to plan our post Thanksgiving weekend.

As I type this, it is a chilly 33 degrees outside and I have been dreading the concept of hanging the lights tomorrow. Yes, dreading. It is a two-day project, and I had the bad feeling that today was going to be as good as it gets … predictions were for an Arctic Express weekend.

I don’t mind cold — if I am skiing, hunting, hiking, bundled for a football game, etc. The idea of hanging lights in the cold is, well, obnoxious.

Then comes the weather channel, with the uplifting news that tomorrow will be a good 20-degrees warmer. This good news brings little comfort to my wife and her friends, who will be up and about long before the sun rises, playing Black Friday Bingo.

Have at it. Turn on the furnace, please, before you leave. I occasionally participate in Black Friday shenanigans, but only under duress. For example, a couple of years ago, I went to a well known office store for a particular camera for my beloved. When I got there at 6 a.m. there were only two of these cameras left. The store had just opened.

It was a good time to weigh 190 solid pounds. It was also a good time to remember Coach Kasimankas’ high school football ball drills. I dove on the last camera like it was a fumble, and rolled toward the checkout line, spurred on by the desire not to crush my darling’s Christmas Kodak dreams.

Wait — those yells were not people cheering my moves. They were outraged fellow shoppers insulting my ancestry. No matter — my wife has her camera.

It’s also a good thing to know weather’s possible impact on events other than shopping and light hanging.

Warm and dry weekend that we anticipate, it will yield better attendance at Gallery Fifteen’s open house, a great place to preview one of a kind holiday presents for loved ones. It will also make for a better church turnout on this First Sunday of Advent.

It’s a given that weather is unpredictable at this time of year. It may be well below freezing, or sunny and warm, or both on the same day. I find it hard to get alarmed — where I grew up, the above were both true, but with the added caveat that it might very well snow or rain, or- everybody’s favorite — snow and frozen rain.

Come back next week for our annual gift review column, a.k.a. how to be a romantic Santa on a minimal budget.